CASE STUDY: WE AfriHug by Youthmakers Hub, Greece

Youthmakers Hub (www.youthmakershub.com) is a Civil Society Organization (CSO), established in 2019 in Athens, Greece but operating globally. The organization believes that the future lies on the youth & this is why it invests in them. Youthmakers Hub offers a variety of services to Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), CSOs & individuals with main aims: To provide education & mobility opportunities to youth & support them to become change agents of tomorrow; To empower youth with the 21st century skills & prepare them for the future, educating them on entrepreneurship, soft skills & the digital revolution; To promote & use non-formal education as a methodology to alternative learning. The activities of the organization lie on 3 pillars: Africa, Education and Culture. Youth makers Hub develops activities related to SDG4, SDG8 and SDG17. The motivation of the co-founders was their vision to empower youth and make them the changers of tomorrow.

Topic Description
Title WE AfriHug, by Youthmakers Hub
Location Africa, Greece, Europe
Time 2018 – ongoing
SDG No SDG4, SDG8 & SDG17
Brief Description Youthmakers Hub a Civil Society Organization (CSO), established in 2019 in Athens, Greece but operating globally. The organization believes that the future lies on the youth & this is why it invests in them. WE AfriHug is an educational project being implemented in Africa every year since 2018, with a different edition.  The initiative focuses on promoting Erasmus+ opportunities to Higher Education Institutions and Civil Society Organizations in African countries, building the capacity of board members, academic staff and youth workers for the participation in Erasmus+ as well as creating synergies between African & European Institutions.
Beneficiaries Universities (Board members, Academic Staff and students) & Civil Society organizations (youth workers, community leaders and trainers) in Africa
Impact Project results: 9 countries (Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Togo, Ghana, Nigeria, Benin, Refugee Camps of Western Sahara in Algeria), 3 Editions (WE AfriHug 2018, 2019, 2020), 14 Life Skills Seminars, 1 Educational camp, 17 Higher Education Institutions, 126 Civil Society Organizations, 3798 University students & academic staff, 287 Secondary school students, 340 Youth workers, 14 Partnerships between African & European Institutions, 25 Mobilities.

All participants (individuals and organisations) mentioned that they are very satisfied and they would like to see more editions of WE AfriHug. In terms of the trainings, almost all participants mentioned that it was beyond their expectations, giving generously excellent comments. This verifies the impact of the project so far and encourages the team to continue with their measurable vision, which aims to implement the project in all African countries by 2035, creating at least 2.000 mobility opportunities between Africa and Europe.
Social Innovation The Social Innovation of We AfiHug initiative lies in: a) The 3 pillars of activities: Africa (bringing Africa and Europe closer), Education (building the Capacity of Youth with skills) & Culture (developing respecting projects); b) The synergies between African and European NGOs and HEIs; c) The education & mobility opportunities for youth, supporting them to become change agents of tomorrow.
Constraints In the beginning the main problem was the different cultures and mindsets and the travelling around the countries.  For sure, what we considered as a problem back in the first edition of the project in 2018 is not a problem now as we continuously receive feedback and try to improve our initiative.

Also funding is the most important support for this project as we do not have stable resources for this project and each year we have to identify new ones.
Sustainability The initiative is running three years (since 2018) with a different edition every year. The plan is to continue the effort enhancing the initiative in terms of participating countries and organisations.
Transferability – Replicability The scope and the idea of the We AfriHug initiative to empower youth and strengthen the educational framework and bonds with Europe can be applied to any country or continent. Every year the initiative adds new countries and targets more organisations proving the transferability and replicability potential.
Lessons Learned – Conclusions
  • It is clear that young people demand for opportunities like Erasmus+ is very high. The training equips them with the necessary information and tools to develop their skills and be more competent.
  • If you want to work with Africans you have to first travel to Africa and spend some time over there, understand its diversity, interact and live with the locals, be integrated to the local culture and respect their tradition and culture.
  • There are so many opportunities in Africa and Europeans could learn from Africa and not only impose